Bruce talks up Mourinho

By Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge

12:01AM BST 11 Apr 2005

Steve Bruce, Birmingham City's ebullient manager, had just spent five minutes eulogising the many merits of Jose Mourinho, conceding he could hardly find a fault with the Chelsea coach, when the Special One himself hoved into view. "You are a top man!" shouted Bruce, hugging Mourinho, "but you are going a bit grey!" As if Mourinho needed reminding he and his team have streaked ahead of the rest.

This season has been far from grey thanks to the colourful Mourinho, who has galvanised the Blues of Stamford Bridge, taking them to within touching distance of the Premiership title and the Champions League semi-finals. Bruce, a down-to-earth Geordie, invariably makes sense and he talked convincingly about why Mourinho has been such a significant and welcome addition to English football.

"I think I speak for all managers when I say we've got huge respect for Mourinho," Bruce said. "He has been a breath of fresh air for us all. We were getting a bit sick of Wenger v Fergie all the time. There's another one on the block now. Apart from Blackburn once, the Premier League has been contested by Manchester United and Arsenal and we've got one more in there now.

"It's taken a hell of a lot of money for Chelsea to get there but, let's be fair, Mourinho's made some big decisions very quickly. You look how he sent out Hernan Crespo and Juan Sebastian Veron on loan. We are all trying desperately to beat him and we can't, it's as simple as that.

"It's not just money. Come on! He's won a Champions League with Porto and the UEFA Cup. Let's not look to knock him. He must be very, very good. I will be jumping up and down for Chelsea in the second leg against Munich [tomorrow]. We're playing the Germans for Christ's sake."

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At which point, an unfamiliar face in the media pack introduced himself to Birmingham's manager with a chirpy "I'm from Munich," and the situation threatened to develop into a scene from Fawlty Towers. Bruce dissolved into laughter-filled apologies. "Bayern are a top, top team," Bruce told the man from Munich. "But so are Chelsea and it's a heavyweight clash. But a two-goal start favours Chelsea."

Bruce was understandably in jovial mood, given how well players such as Mehdi Nafti, Walter Pandiani, and Matthew Upson performed against the champions elect. One of the few occasions Birmingham were beaten to the ball came when Mourinho's No 2, Steve Clarke, sprinted across the technical area to dispossess Bruce, who was trying to slow down a Chelsea throw. "That's the first time you have ever done that to me," Bruce shouted at Clarke, rewinding memories to the early 1990s.

Birmingham's manager had ordered his strikers, Pandiani and Emile Heskey, to drop back when Chelsea were flooding midfield. Yet Bruce's approach was hardly a damage-limitation exercise; with Jermaine Pennant seeking to give Birmingham an outlet down the right, the visitors did worry Chelsea's defence and John Terry needed to be at his alert best to block a Pandiani drive.

Birmingham's enterprise was rewarded after 65 minutes. Pennant lifted in the ball from the left, the excellent Upson exploited a rare misjudgment by Petr Cech and headed back across goal. Pandiani, El Rifle from Uruguay, proved deadly from 10 yards.

Even when Chelsea trail, the overwhelming feeling when watching them is that they will claw their way back into contention, whether through taking a more direct approach towards Didier Drogba, through their canniness at set-pieces when Terry is so dangerous, or through the individual brilliance of players such as Frank Lampard.

So Chelsea, waking from their surprising initial lethargy, went for Birmingham. Drogba had a free kick held by the impressive Maik Taylor, who then tipped over a blast from Robert Huth. But with seven minutes remaining, Terry and Lampard combined to work the ball through to Drogba, who beat Taylor with a calm, well-placed finish. Chelsea almost won it but Taylor saved Eidur Gudjohnsen's right-foot volley to ensure deserved parity prevailed.

Bruce sees Chelsea as deserved champions but he left the Bridge having taken a point and making another one, observing: "Retaining a championship makes you a great side." The little grey cells of Mourinho are prob-ably working on that already.